Police say man and his 3-year-old daughter dead after siege in house in southern Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Police say an armed man and his 3-year-old daughter have been found dead in a home after an hours-long siege in the southern Netherlands.

Limburg province police chief Gery Veldhuis says the dead man is suspected of having shot his ex-girlfriend in the leg earlier Thursday before fleeing into a house belonging to her parents in the town of Reuver, 195 kilometers (120 miles) south of Amsterdam.

Veldhuis says that after initially communicating with police by phone — telling them he was unhappy with his visitation rights to see his daughter — the man went silent. Police then stormed the building and found the two bodies, apparently victims of gunshot wounds.

Local mayor Petra Dassen says the mother underwent surgery and was recovering in hospital.